Yes,I looked it up on Wikipidia but I don't think it will work on Windows 7,Windows 8 or Windows XP. It could mess up the system if I tried to install it.

Did you seriously think about installing that thing?Those clay abominations from XP were killed off because they are a visual equivalent of getting herpes.

The point of a desktop is to have something nice in the background.A visually messy interface is noisy and has a massive amount of detail which causes unconscious stress and makes you dumber (thank you Cracked.com)The point of an OS is to have a simple, elegant and highly functioning environment to do anything you please to. Beauty, Simplicity, and Focus are the keys.Ergo Windows 8 is the way it is. It is visually SIMPLE, relaxing, etc. It also manages to maximize your productivity.

Windows 7 reached the climax of start menu design - there is simply no where else to go. It combined tools, controls, and the ability to search and launch applications.Windows 8 start menu is simply an extension of that. Because Windows 7 introduced the ability to PIN applications - Windows 7 start menu got little love as simply it was seen as an extension of the task bar's pinning ability.Additionally, system settings that are on the W7 start menu do not get much love as once the settings are solidified to the user's liking - there is no need to mess with them. Users realized how much of a pain it is to search through legacy menu structures to find their applications - ergo pinning and WINKEY + Firefox + ENTER type things. The death of the W7 start menu was inevitable from a design perspective. For example, W7 start menu gives access to shut down / hibernate / restart - but again as W7 is rock stable these do not get used much - besides the big power button on the PC case may be simpler to press.W8 start screen is simply that which is accessed frequently presented in a visually uncluttered flowing method.

What you are trying to do is kill off the elegant mistress of GUI design, give her corpse a gender reassignment surgery, mutilate and reanimate the corpse, and try to get it working as a swimsuit model.

You know what I have on my W8 desktop? A wallpaper. Technically 173 wallpapers shuffling every minute.

Also Windows 8 is significantly faster than Windows 7. UAC is a driver level service which prevents executable code from modifying system files without elevation.IE10 is way better than IE9 - please read the official IE blog if you do not know this. IE9 is significantly faster than IE8 and better looking too.IE6 is one of the worst plagues ever invented. Trying to tell people that IE6 is in any form "good" is like justifying having no cellphone.

Also, you can simply live with XP and IE6. There is the Way Back Machine for IE6 compatible internet.

This probably isn't quite what you mean but desktop apps can already appear on top of the start screen (if they're installed with UI Access). Try it with Task Manager or inspect.exe from the Windows SDK (which lets you inspect the UI element tree of any UI Automation-enabled apps, including immersive apps).

Apps which run in explorer (like task manager which is part of explorer) would be able to show up on top of the start screen, as the start screen and desktop are effectively two shells running in parallel under explorer.

Just for giggles and idle curiosity I went and installed Bob on Windows 7. One of my x86 test machines as this is a 16 bit program. I was surprised to see it actually more or less still works. Had to make a couple of adjustments to get it to run but it does work. Cropped off of three monitors and scaled way down, but you get the idea. If it runs on 7 it'll probably run on 8 too, and no reason why it shouldn't on XP.. not that I'd recommend using something that old, even if you were interested in it.

That said, I'll still take Metro any day over this

Well I have done it I have installed Microsoft Bob on Windows 8 and it works. Thank you for telling me about Microsoft Bob. It has all of the different animated characters like Windows XP's Search Companions.

I think that is where Microsoft got the idea to put Search Companion on Windows XP from Microsoft Bob.So yes,Microsoft Bob does work on Windows 8.Andrea Borman.

Some people are just so damn rude. Some are being sarcastic and some are even making fun. Its good to defend what you like, but while doing that, some are imposing their likes as if they are setting the standards.
@+AndreaBorman: Seems you're having fun and like what you do, carry on; even though those custo's don;t suit my taste, I'm definitely sure some will like it.

Some people are just so damn rude. Some are being sarcastic and some are even making fun. Its good to defend what you like, but while doing that, some are imposing their likes as if they are setting the standards.@+AndreaBorman: Seems you're having fun and like what you do, carry on; even though those custo's don;t suit my taste, I'm definitely sure some will like it.

I don't dislike her customised interfaces (it's her own choice after all) but most of the claims she makes are really absurd, especially about IE like IE10 being IE9 being IE8 or Windows XP being faster than 7 being faster than 8...

Well I found out about Microsoft Bob from here this forum,after some members on this thread told me about it. And it is amazing that it works on Windows 8 and so do all of it's features,Bob email, Geo Safari and all of the others work.

IE10 is the same as IE9 or at least it looks exactly the same. But there is no Ie10 or download link for Ie10 for Windows 7. And even if there was,I will never install it. Just like I will never install IE9,I am sticking with IE8. Andrea Borman.

Well I found out about Microsoft Bob from here this forum,after some members on this thread told me about it. And it is amazing that it works on Windows 8 and so do all of it's features,Bob email, Geo Safari and all of the others work.

IE10 is the same as IE9 or at least it looks exactly the same. But there is no Ie10 or download link for Ie10 for Windows 7. And even if there was,I will never install it. Just like I will never install IE9,I am sticking with IE8. Andrea Borman.

If you think MS Bob running on 8 is amazing, wait until you see this, it will blow your mind

IE10 is the same as IE9 or at least it looks exactly the same. But there is no Ie10 or download link for Ie10 for Windows 7. And even if there was,I will never install it. Just like I will never install IE9,I am sticking with IE8. Andrea Borman.

Andrea, IE10 isn't out yet for Windows 7. It is notrecommended to keep using older browsers, they are the front line defense in the security of your system. Why you think you need to keep using older software on your machines is beyond me, but you are putting yourself in danger of being had by using old browsers.